Nick Napoletano of Wethersfield Assists in Creating Video for Eastern's Center for Early Childhood Education

2012 Dec 18

Eastern Connecticut State University's Center for Early Childhood Education (CECE) recently released a new video about a three-year effort to improve the language and early literacy skills of more than 500 children in Windham, Connecticut.

In 2008, the center was awarded a U.S. Department of Education Early Reading First grant to implement the Community Partners for Early Literacy (CPEL) project. In partnership with the Windham Early Childhood Center (part of Windham Public Schools) and the Child and Family Development Resource Center (CFDRC) at Eastern, the CECE provided professional development and literacy coaching to 50 teachers and paraprofessionals and supported families in engaging in literacy activities at home.

Nick Napoletano '07 of Wethersfield, CT, contributed to the video project as a graphic designer. Napoletano's major was Communication.

The video, titled "Inspiring Lessons: What We Learned from the Community Partners for Early Literacy Project," documents and shares the lessons learned during the project with other early childhood education programs and school districts. The 30-minute video includes interviews with teachers, paraprofessionals, parents, literacy coaches and faculty experts about what works in supporting children's literacy development.

To view the video and learn more about the project, visit: http://www.easternct.edu/cece/inspiring_lessons.html.